Disaptches from Sheltering in Place - Monday, March 23, 2020

Today was kind of a cranky day - thick moist clouds hovered low overhead, reinforcing a damp, cloistered mood. Comments that might have glanced off our thicker skins last week got under the surface today.  The sense that this will last longer than our longest vacation is beginning to sink into our skins; in fact, this whole exercise in physical and social restraint could last longer than some jobs I've had.

When things get thick, I go out an dig. A spade, a trowel, a fork, anything that will go into the skin of the earth and release its gold, its funk, its mysterious magic. I want to feel and smell the richness life still has to offer - thin white mycellium, thick dark roots, worms transforming pallid land-fill clay to dark, airy loam.

And today, to honor the spring that is marching forward right under our noses, the first rose.